Experience, the greatest teacher of all..

I met an old man this evening, that was very eager to tell me a story..As i was studying at Tim Hortons for one of my final exams, he saw me drift away in thought and he said "it seems as though ur very stressed. Your eyes say alot"..I said "yes, i am"..my eyes have witnessed alot and there is only so much they could say. I felt like my eyes were speaking so much faster than my mind was thinking. They were just unraveling all the experiences that i went through during my 23 years of life. They may sound like only a few years to have lived, but i believe that everyday we live is an entire lifetime. If you think of all the different experiences and events that happen to you everyday, you would find that you can write a story, a whole book, about the life you had during that day. And i would call it "A Life in the day of Zeina", instead of "A day in the life of Zeina"..The old man then told me that life is full of surprises and disappointments..He said, "dont be thrown off when you dont get what you want..because if you didnt get disappointed, how will u know you could have such feelings? Life is negative and positive..If you look at a light bulb, it works through the connection of a negative and positive wire, but if you cut out either one of them, it will break down, because it needs both wires to work and light up. So do we..if we always got what we wanted and never had to face any downsides, we will always be missing something. However, dont mistake what i say child, because sometimes, if you believe in something so much, then you should pursue it and make it happen. You have so much potential, and i can see that by the looks of you, you are a very persistent girl. Dont ever let anyone put you down, stand up for what you believe in and be certain you will get it. If i learned one thing in life, is to fully trust my heart and listen to it. Be a good listener, especially to your heart, because it knows best. Even if you think you might get hurt, at least you gained that experience"....As he spoke, i tried to absorb everything he said, and i listened very carefully because i know that one day, i will go through an experience where i will need his words to help me decide how to deal with it wether it be good or bad. I knew i would need his wisdom and knowledge. I noticed all the wrinkles on his face, which displayed how much he's seen through the years, and how much hes learned from life as he woke up everyday. They were the same wrinkles that my grandfather had before he passed away. He used to speak to me of many things, mostly related to my beloved home land, Palestine. He used to tell me how many olive trees he planted while struggling to get through the sentence because his eyes wont stop spilling tear drops everytime he opened that subject. In his eyes, i could see a whole lifetime of experiences and events, that affected him eternally. A whole history that is undescribable in words because it displayed generations of hurt, pain, and agony for the most valuable property known to man kind, his home land. It displayed anger, frustration, and a longing to take one more glance, up close, at the most beautiful creation that was ever created, his home land. I then cut my train of thought, and thanked the old man for his knowlegable words, and he left..I believe that everything he spoke of was true. He was a very wise man, and i think that my encounter with him taught me so much about myself, and that on its own was a great experience..